Issue 16 : Sept 14, 2025

This week’s issue is a summary of the rapid response training hosted here in Lansing by GR Rapid Response to ICE. They shared with us an incident in Grand Rapids where ICE was showing up a local elementary school to use children as bait in order to arrest parents.

ICE’s budget is now larger than most of the world’s militaries. We’re seeing them arrest without due process. We’ve seen them deport children. We’ve seen them opening defy our nations courts to illegally deport over 250 men to a maximum-security mega-prison in El Salvador. In our own state, we’ve already seen reports of inadequate food at North Lake Correctional Facility, the largest immigration detention center in the Midwest. If they weren’t doing anything illegal ICE wouldn’t need to cover their faces.

We’ve also seen that community organizing works. Showing up for our neighbors in direct action works. Organizing mutual aid to support families and arrested advocates works.

I fear things are going to get worse before they get better. How can we learn from the lived experiences of GR Response to expand on our networks here in Lansing while there’s still time?